Closure actuator



Un a. saws Pass- 1.

CLOSURE ACTUATOR 'Robert Archer Smith, 29835 Beechwood, Garden City,

Filed June 9, 1958, Ser. No. 740,790

6 Claims. (Cl. 222-182) This invention relates to closure constructions, as for example plastic closures adapted for removable disposition on pressurized containers normally utilized to contain insecticides, paints, shaving cream, Whipping cream toppings, and similar products under gas pressure. The term pressurized as used herein will be understood to comprehend aerosol and similar types of gas charged devices.

In the above described containers there is provided a manually actuable valve construction which is normally shielded from actuation by means of an inverted cupshaped plastic cover or closure, the function of said closure being to prevent inadvertent actuation of the valve, as for example during shipping or handling.

- It is of course necessary with the above described type of closure that the closure be retained on the container with a fairly tight fit in order to act as a dust shield for sanitation purposes and in order to prevent inadvertent removal of the closure during shipping and handling. The requirement that the closure have a tight fit on the container has in the past presented a problem in enabling the housewife or other user to quickly remove the closure when desired. Some closures have been constructed of rigid material such as inflexible plastic. Other closures have been constructed of flexible plastic material in order to provide an elastic grip on the container. However the plastic tends to change in size with temperature changes and molding conditions so that it was not always possible to obtain the desired compromise between a loose and tight fit;'as a result it was often necessary to design the closure with a looser than desired fit in order to guard against closure sticking.

It should also be noted that unloosening of the closure required the user to squeeze or deform the lower portion of the closure inwardly. The housewife or other user in many cases did not understand the proper procedure for removing the closure, and in many cases the user applied the squeezing pressure at improper points on the closure surface, with the result that the container valve was actuated so as to discharge its contents instead of eflecting a closure-removal operation.

In order to overcome some of the defects of the above discussed flexible type closure construction there has been devised a rigid plastic closure with a screw threaded insert. In order to utilize this rigid closure construction with the conventional container it was necessary to form screw threads on the container valve. The provision of the threaded insert and the threads on the valve increases the total cost of the unit by reason of increased material costs, increased labor costs and lower volume of production. In this connection, formation of threads in the insert required the insert to be threaded out of its molding device instead of being withdrawn therefrom in a straight motion; as a result lower volume of production was obtainedQ Also, the insert-closure assembly was not adapted for quick installation onto the container by automatic machinery, whereas the earlier flexible closure construction could be applied quickly to the container with inexpensive machinery.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a container construction having the best features of the aforementioned closure constructions without the disadvantages thereof. More particularly, it is an object to provide a closure which has a relatively tight fit on the container while being quickly and easily removed therefrom whenever desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide a closure and actuator therefore, wherein the closure and actuator can be formed as an integral one piece unit in high volume by relatively simple machinery.

Another object is to provide a closure and actuatuor, wherein the actuator is of relatively small size so as not to project from the container any substantial distance, whereby to prevent inadvertent actuation of the actuator during handling or storing.

Another object is to provide a container closure and actuator therefore, wherein the actuator is easily moved so as to enable use by housewives and other non-muscular people.

Another object is to provide a closure and actuator, wherein the closure can be easily positioned on the container with a single manual movement without interference from the actuator.

Another object is to provide a container closure and actuator, wherein the actuator is effective to move the closure to a partially removed position, the arrangement of the actuator being such that the closure does not tend to return to its completely installed position after release of manual pressure on the actuator.

ther objects of this invention will appear in the following description and appended claims, reference being'had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspecification wherein like reference characters designatecorresponding parts in the several views.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is' a sectional view through one embodiment of the invention installed on a conventional pressurized container utilized to contain and dispense whipping cream or topping.

Fig. 2 is a partial view of the Fig. 1 structure, showing the closure in a partially removed position after depression of the closure actuator.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the Fig. 1 closure removed from its container.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 in Fig. 3. Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. it is to be understood that the employed herein is for the of limitation.

In the drawings there is shown a conventional pres surized aerosol container 10 having' a top wall 12 towhich is secured a conventional ring member or neck portion 14 for mounting a rubber valve member 16. A

Also, phraseology or terminology purpose of description and not plastic sleeve member 18 is frictionally telescoped over the rubber valve member 16 and is provided with a discharge opening 20, the normal operation of the device being such that when closure member 22 is removed the user may press his or her thumb against the outer sur-' face of sleeve 18 so as to deflect the upper portion of rubber valve member 16 and thereby open the valve for discharge of the container contents through discharge" opening 20.

gas so that when the container is inverted and sleeve 18 It will be understood that container 10 is charged withnitrous oxide and carbon dioxide or other;

including a flexible hinge section extending from a lower region of the cap side wall, a lug portion connected with said hinge section, and extending downwardly into abutting engagement with the container top wall at a point outside the vertical confines of the cap annular side wall, and a manually depressible portion extending outwardly from said hinge section and lug portion but terminating within the vertical confines of the container side wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Lorenz Dec. 22, 1903 Lafarge June 6, 1950 Green Jan. 17, 1956 Magnesen June 5, 1956 Sofier Apr. 22, 1958 

